Category: duke football

Duke finished off this season with a bang to win the Walk-On Independence Bowl, defeating the Temple Owls by a smashing score of 56-27. Not much was expected as Duke had lost their two final games of the season in lopsided fashion and had been 2-4 later in the season after a 5-1 start. The Blue Devils came in a 3.5-point underdog, especially having suffered multiple hits to the defensive corps throughout the season, including star CB Mark Gilbert, S Deondre Singleton, and Edgar Cerenord, and would also play without arguably their most important defensive players, Joe Giles-Harris and Ben Humphreys. However, the defense was the one that stepped up in the second half to hold Temple scoreless while the offense racked up 36 points to fuel the win.

Quarterback Daniel Jones played in what is likely to have been his final game in a Duke uniform, ending his season as prolifically as his team with 429 passing yard, 121 rushing yards, and 6 overall touchdowns (5 passing, 1 rushing). Senior wide receiver TJ Rahming also had an impressive performance in his last game, making 12 receptions for 240 yards, his season high. Temple couldn’t seem to defend Duke’s passing game, and as their offense was stopped by Duke’s defensive game, the second half was a downright blowout.

The defense stepped up incredibly well today despite a season marred by injuries. They stopped the owls on fourth down 3 times (one a botched snap on a punt), as well as under 50% on 3rd down (6-14). Duke’s offense was just a bit excited about throwing the ball on three separate occasions and was intercepted (twice for Jones, once for backup Quentin Harris who entered the game intermittently). Temple actually led 27-20 at the half, and had even led 20-7 early, but came to a grinding halt immediately as Duke started to roll on both sides of the field and the blowout began.

Offensively, multiple Independence Bowl records were set: Daniel Jones set two with both the most passing yards and passing touchdowns, while the entire team combined to set the scoring record.

Duke QB Daniel Jones has set the Independence Bowl record with 5 Pass TD. Jones has 6 TD responsible for today, tying Tajh Boyd in the 2014 Orange Bowl for most by an ACC player in a bowl game. Duke’s 56 points are also a school record for a bowl game. pic.twitter.com/s84qhVvw1S

Daniel Jones now has a decision to make regarding next season. Many have said- and personally, I agree- that leaving Duke for the 2018 NFL Draft would probably be the best option for Jones. As much as we love having him here at Duke, he’s graduated with a degree in economics and is one of the highest ranked quarterbacks this year- even a possible first round pick, something that hasn’t happened to a Duke quarterback in years (and only once!). With multiple NFL teams looking for a quarterback pretty much imminently, and the 2019 class looking stacked with guys like Alabama’s Tua Tagovailoa, he could easily go a lot higher if he were to leave this year. Also, that’s a full year of NFL salary. We’ve been so lucky to have him and he’s worked his butt off to go from barely being looked at as a recruit to a huge prospect in the NFL and he showed it today. Look to Krazies’ Korner to get information on his decision and next year’s outlook.

Duke Football takes one last trip for the 2018 season after a few weeks of preparation in the Independence Bowl in Shreveport, Louisiana against Temple University (8-4). Temple started at 2-3 but gave a strong 6-1 finish in the later part of the season, its only loss to #7 UCF, while Duke performed essentially the opposite. They starting a strong 5-1 but fell out at the end of the season for a meager 2-4 to finish at 7-0.

The final game of the year was a devastating loss in a game that should’ve been at least competitive against Wake Forest at 59-7. However, that was at least somewhat affected by the losses that occurred in a loss at Clemson. Hopefully, an injury-riddled season (see Mark Gilbert, Edgar Cerenord, Deondre Singleton) will end with at least half a roster playing.

Even if we were perfectly healthy, we would be extremely challenged by this team.

Duke Head Coach David Cutcliffe

Fate will probably decide Duke’s chances to win. Ben Humphreys and Joe Giles-Harris, probably the most important components on the defensive side of the field, are both questionable to take the field Thursday, so it really depends on whether or not they’ve healed from their respective injuries. If both players were to play, it would greatly improve our chances to stop Temple’s offense.

Daniel Jones just might play his last game suited up for the Blue Devils today. As the #2 prospect on ESPN’s Mel Kiper’s QB Draft Board after Oregon’s Justin Herbert chose to stay in college, he is pretty likely to depart Duke this year for the NFL Draft. He has pinpoint accuracy and can run when necessary. He’s a really good quarterback and has gone from hardly being looked at and without a guaranteed scholarship to an NFL prospect in just a few years. He deserves a heck of a lot of respect. Sources say that he is undecided in whether to turn pro or remain at Duke another year, but it should be noted that Jones graduated this month (one semester early), probably influencing his decision.

Does this not feel like it went fast? Duke Football plays its final game of the regular season on Saturday against Wake Forest, a team that’s struggled this year with its youth but count nobody out. Go Duke.

Sorry I’m so late with this. Duke heads to Death Valley in what David Cutcliffe has called one of the greatest challenges of his career. They’ve got talent on all fronts and it’ll take a lot of favor towards the Blue Devils and faith to keep up in the game, not to mention win. Here we go. Have faith and bleed blue. The odds aren’t great but if things go right, we could have a shot.

Daniel Jones had a monstrous outing against the North Carolina Tar Heels as Duke outlasted the North Carolina Tar Heels in a rivalry matchup heard round the world of central North Carolina. It took neither team time to find a rhythm on offense, as the first half alone consisted of 63 points. Duke, however, managed to get some stops in the second half to slow the Rams and get the win at home. It’s the third straight year that Duke will claim the bell- Carolina leads the overall series but the past few years have indeed favored the Blue Devils.

The Chronicle called him “DAN THE MAN”, which was well-deserved as Duke got a heck of a game out of quarterback Daniel Jones, who absolutely torched the Carolina defense and garnered a total of 547 total yards with over 361 passing and 185 rushing. UNC battled out to the final play, but it was Jones’s electrifying play that would win out. Specifically, Jones had two long runs that would score and set up a touchdown, respectively, for the Blue Devils that got the team and crowd pumped. It was one of the best performances ever by a Duke quarterback.

Defense Comes Up Big

After an absolute shootout in the first, the defense came up big for us in the second half. A tale of two halves, as some might call it: offense was rolling in the first on either side of the field yet neither team could keep the momentum in the second. Duke, specifically, had multiple big stops in a game where every possession mattered. Star linebacker Joe Giles-Harris was held out for injury, yet another major player sidelined, but the Blue Devils pulled through.

Next Up: @ Clemson, TBD

Duke takes on the #2 team in the country in Death Valley next week. Time TBD.

With all the basketball buzz some have forgotten this: Duke Football takes on crosstown rival UNC this weekend with. Now, it doesn’t carry the heavyweight glory of Alabama-LSU or Ohio State-Michigan, and definitely not Duke-UNC in college basketball, but there is some heavyweight involved: the VICTORY BELL. Winner takes all.

Duke Looks to Keep Momentum Rolling

Games against Virginia and Pitt- both losses- were put to bed against Miami, as the Blue Devils held on for a thrilling 20-12 statement victory which, while it wasn’t always pretty (literally, the game was a mudslide), tipped the scales in our favor for the remainder of the season and guaranteed qualification for a bowl game. Now, they come home for the first time since a loss to Virginia looking to claim the Victory Bell for a third straight year.

UNC’s Season? Not One for the Books.

Almost everything that could go wrong did this year for the Tar Heels. Starting QB Chazz Surratt and (I think) 11 other players were suspended from 1-4 games to start the season (Surratt got four) for selling their school-issued shoes. They had to start the season with Nathan Elliot, who started out looking, well, not up-to-speed. Almost immediately after Surratt returned, though, his season was over with a wrist injury. Anyway, currently, with three games to go in the season, UNC is 1-7, including losses to Cal and ECU, plus late losses to ACC rivals across the board. Coach Larry Fedora is on a major hot seat right now. And yet, you can’t count anybody out in a rivalry game. Don’t be fooled: they can lose to ECU (yes, ECU!) and still be red-hot ready to come to Wallace Wade. Plus, the Tar Heels are the only ACC team to knock off Pittsburgh (I shudder at the memory of Duke up there), plus close games with multiple ranked or formerly ranked teams. The tape is better than the record.

Coach David Cutcliffe called it an “old-fashioned mud game”. It poured for most of the game. Players were slipping and sliding, yet both teams fought valiantly and Duke came out with the win today in Miami, 20-12. The past couple go-arounds in Miami have not gone well: Miami miracles have made Duke miserable, but it won’t happen again.

Veteranship Wins

Lots of veterans had excellent games for Duke, including linebackers Joe Giles-Harris, Ben Humphreys, and tight end Daniel Helm. Miami fans have been very unhappy with the team of late, whose losing streak is now extended to three games, a factor which led to the benching of senior starting quarterback Malik Rosier in favor of freshman N’Kosi Perry.

Weather Woes

As I said before, it absolutely poured throughout much of the game last night, leading to a mudslide of a game. Miami missed both of their extra point attempts (hence the 12 points) and a field goal, partially because of the rain and partially because the game just wasn’t going very well for Miami other than the final drive. However, the ‘Canes knew Southern Florida rain well, while Duke was not as used to that level of torrent.

First Plays and Final Drives

Deon Jackson blew the game open immediately with a 75-yard touchdown rush on the first snap of the game, giving the Blue Devils an immediate 7-0 advantage. While Miami would jump ahead to 12-7 later on, every point aided this team win and the energy that the run brought carried Duke in part throughout the rest of the game. Jackson has stepped up since an injury to Brittain Brown kept him out, but as Brown heals, we’re unsure how he’ll be worked back into the lineup.

Three years ago, Miami pulled off a miraculous eight-lateral kickoff return that shocked the Blue Devils. This game was reminiscent of that- but fell just short, as offensive pass interference overturned the only catch in the end zone and time expired before Miami could get it into the end zone.